Thursday, September 26, 2013

A Critical Look At A Liberal Medium / Pushing Boundaries And Buttons.

Jazz may well be the most fractured genre of music. There are probably more identifiable sub-genres within jazz than any other type of recorded music with many simply different names for the same intent. As a society we seem to have an overwhelming desire to neatly categorize every aspect in our life so that others may easily identify us as a person and in the meantime we have lost our individuality.

I have identified myself as an Independent Conservative and while I will address that in a minute here are the resulting expectations:

Myth vs. Fact

1. I must be a "tea-bagger"...I drink coffee and find the ideological base for the tea party which is in fact a movement and not a party antiquated and lacking any forward movement since the days of Leave It To Beaver.

2. I am a religious nut...I rarely if ever attend services of any kind. Normally you only find me in a house of worship for weddings or funerals which to me are the same even happening simultaneously. I do however believe we are a Christian nation. I believe in celebrating Christmas not "Holiday" and extend the courtesy of not giving a shit what if any "Holiday" you may choose. It is called freedom.

3. I am addicted to Fox News and I worship at the feet of Glen Beck...I never and let me repeat for those riding the short bus, NEVER watch Fox. I find Glen Beck to be a media meat puppet that does far more harm than good to any group he represents. Think it through, Fox did not renew his contract for a reason. 4. You don't like Obama or Obamacare so you must be racist...Welcome to race baiting 101. Congress is exempt, Unions don't want it, Employer mandates have been delayed till after the next election so the racist pool of non participants must be huge huh? I am treated by doctors of every ethnicity and orientation under the sun...All I need is that they be competent. Organ transplant guidelines are unfair and not covered under the plan nor will they be added after the fact, that is not how laws are made. Currently these guidelines are left up to the state to deceide. Get your shit straight before calling me out.

As a person I truly don't care what your color, orientation or ideology may be. I admire passion. You don't have to agree with an opinion to respect it. I will call out hypocrites and I stink at "playing the game." I walked away from All About Jazz after their attempts to censor content on my site. I have called out and alienated myself with artists such as Nicholas Payton, J.D. Allen, and Orrin Evans for their stance against the "white power" of the music industry. If so angered why do they continue to accept their bookings and cash their checks? Making a living pimping yourself out on the inequities of the past that you never knew is the height of hypocrisy. As a former musician I know you can play or you can't as color knows no talent lines. Orientation? Whoever you choose to have a relationship with in the privacy of your own home is your right. I have vehemently disagreed with those that might be flagged as liberal yet I deeply admire their passion in caring. For me ideology boils down to simply doing the math.

Jazz much like the term conservative is to a degree an outmoded terminology that limits oneself and the perceptions of others. As a critic I have learned to take what you like and what you know and move past that and in doing so I am discovering amazing talent and amazing things about my own ability. As people we need to look past ideological stereotypes. I am not a label. I am a person with a pulse. A living breathing organism that stands for something. Liberalism is also an outmoded ideological term. You can nitpick labels to death. Paralysis by analysis is a critics worst nightmare and as a people is our greatest weakness.

I am a picker of nits. I do the math. All I offer is perspective. Their are no absolute truths but deceptively subtle shades of musical gray. ﻿

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